First I was a bit doubtfull playing a flying simulator on an XBox controller. But it worked absolutely fine and it feels amazing to play it with one. Sure, the game has its flaws, mechanics are clunky, controls can be a bit frustrating for the first two hours, until you managed to get a hang out of it and start to engage in a dog fighting power trip that is extremely satisfying. The story is very interesting and engaging, half Babylon 5, half Ridick, but always whith an individual interpretation. I like it. The game looks absolutely stunning. The aesthetic is amazing, not always in the quality of the graphics - which gets painfully obvious in close ups of the human modal - but the backgrounds and level designs are really great. Honestly, I do not understand why this game got so many poorer ratings. It is a sweet little gem that looks nice, tells an intriging story and catapults you in a vers satiyfying power fantasy - that still has a learning curve and growing difficulty to match your growing mastery of the game. 10/10.
In the evolutionary ladder from System Shock to Bioshock and onwards, "Prey" for now is the crowning jewel. For now, game design, story telling and gameplay in a bioshock-like hasn't gotten better than Prey.
And allready hard locked in a screen that does not go further, no matter what you do, with noexplanation whatsoever.
Songs of conquest is a game that finally took up the flame and formula of HoMaM 3 and brought it into modernity. Less quirky and high fantasy, but therefore more medieval, flexible and grimmer (but not grim dark, just way more dark fantasy than high fantasy). The gameplay is fantastic, addictive, easy to learn, hard to master and the difficulty curve will have you use all your strategic capabilities.
By that I don't mean this is the best game of all time. However, for what it is and tries to be, the game is basically perfect. It is an engaging, fun, clever and at the end surprisingly challenging puzzle game in the guise of a city builder. The retro-futuristic cyber punk / art déco reminiscing of Metropolis aesthetic is innovative, new and perfectly implemented. The story is interesting, neither trodden out nor overshadowing the gameplay. All in all a next to perfect puzzle game, a true gem!
So let's get the obvious out-of-the-way first: This game - painfully obviously - tries to be the next Bioshock. It fails miserably at that but because this goal was the first and foremost thing to achieve for the developers, there is nothing else left. During loading screens, there is an advice stating something along the lines of "before using a healing potion, maybe look around first if there is any food to consume". ... ... ... There is no food to consume in this entire game. This is the level of lacking polish and structure the game is. Not even the loading screens are accurate.
It's a nice terra forming sim with good artwork and interesting mechanics. However, the game is unpolished. There is not enough to do and too much repetition for the length of the story campaign. The gameplay is fun, but the game is just soooooo slow very quickly and will never put up speed again until it is finished. I managed to embrace this and turned the game into an interactive screen saver. While I was working, I went back to the screen a couple times, let the game idle and listen to the story bits and managed to finish the game with minimal interaction at the end. Again, the game is not bad. If you are interested in the genre and different ways to approach it, it is a good experience. But it has its flaws.
I would describe it as a cozy kind of city builder. Not nearly as deep as Surviving Mars or similar, but a functional game that scratches the itch of a sci-fi city builder without exhausting you. Easy to play alongside having a serious on or while relaxing. It is good for what it is.
This game is a point and click adventure in the style of a hidden object game. However, the production value is much higher. There is a proper story with an element of looking for clues and exploring the story for yourself. There are proper cutscenes and an actual story that holds up. One of the best games of the genre, even though it drags out at the end and could be a bit shorter, it still is an absolute recommendation!
